International statistics

26 August 2014 à 14:33

French films at the international box office: June/July 2014

Buoyed by the exceptional results achieved by Lucy and Serial (Bad) Weddings, French cinema has enjoyed a very positive summer in international theaters, further proof of an increase in admissions in 2014.

During June and July 2014, 12 films registered more than 100,000 admissions and 2 amongst them attracted more than a million spectators, proving once again the fine state of French cinema in theaters abroad since the beginning of the year.

Spotlight on a selection of standout majority French film titles in June and July 2014

Lucy launched spectacularly abroad and went straight to the head of the box office in all the territories where it was released. In the USA and Canada (Universal Studios), the film generated more than $61 million in revenues in 3,313 theaters, being 7.6 million spectators in its first week! This is the second best start ever for a French film in this territory. The record held by Taken 2 (Fox), with $64 million in its opening week, was within the film's sights, but Lucy achieved a better spectator average per print (2400) than the earlier EuropaCorp production. Luc Besson registered his best opening week as a director and, at the end of July, his second best performance, ahead of the The Fifth Element (Columbia – $63 million in 1997, being 14.5 million spectators). Released simultaneously in Québec by the same distributor, Lucy realized the best French start registered by UniFrance in this territory, far ahead of Taken 2 (Fox), with more than C$1.5 million in revenues, being 174,000 admissions in its opening week from 77 prints. Scarlett Johansson attracted more than 300,000 spectators in Australia (Universal), where the film also ranks first at the box office, to Lucy's opening weekend. Lucy had accumulated more than 12 million admissions in international theaters at the end of July.

What a terrific start for Serial (Bad) Weddings in Germany! Renamed Monsieur Claude and His Daughters, the film attracted 155,000 spectators from 224 prints its opening weekend weekend, then an additional 280,000 admissions the following week from 377 prints. This is an extremely promising result for distributor Neue Visionen, already behind the success of Paulette last year (583,000 admissions at the end of July and still out on release a year after it launched). Philippe de Chauveron's film is guaranteed to leave a lasting mark on the local 2014 box office, and will soon join the ranks of the top 20 majority French films in Germany since the beginning of 2000. Elsewhere, the film maintains its excellent performance in Greece (Odeon), with more admissions accumulated for its 8th weekend than for its opening weekend, a rare event resulting from the excellent word of mouth in the territory (57,000 total admissions by the end of July). Sold to more than thirty territories, from Argentina (CDI Films) to Hong Kong and China (Orange Sky / Golden Harvest), and not forgetting Israel (New Cinema), Serial (Bad) Weddings had tallied 1.3 million admissions at the end of July and thus became the 11th French film to top a million in 2014.

Nicholas on Holiday, which released in France and Quebec (Metropole) simultaneously, won over Quebec spectators, with more than C$440,000 in revenues in 3 weeks, being around 50,000 admissions from 39 prints. The film is on par with the performance of Little Nicholas (Les Films Séville), which, in 2010, attracted 58,000 spectators by the end of its career. Sustained admissions will be required for the film to succeed in overtaking the 85,000 admissions of Belle and Sébastien, the best French performance in this territory so far this year. Elsewhere, Nicholas on Holiday leapt to the top of the box office in French-speaking Switzerland upon its release (Pathé Films AG – 15,000 spectators from 20 prints) and launched in fourth place in Belgium (Cinéart – 47,000 spectators from 43 prints), two fine performances reflecting those achieved by the film's predeccessor.

Beauty and the Beast reached 315,000 admissions in South Korea (Next Entertainement World) 4 weeks into its run and became the French film that has attracted the most spectators in Korean theaters since the end of 2012. After a weak 2013 for French cinema in this territory, where no film registered more than 100,000 admissions, 2014 breathes new life into French films, with 1.2 million spectators registered at the end of July, being double the number of admissions recorded for all of 2013. 2012 was a record year, with 6.3 million spectators, but it remains an exceptional case, although 2014 looks set to reach the average of previous years. Christophe Gans' film had accumulated 2.4 million admissions in international theaters by the end of July 2014.

French cinema is also thriving in Italy this year. Moving to second position at the local box office the week of its release, Babysitting (Eagle Pictures) successfully launched with 72,000 spectators from a solid 226 prints. This is a good performance for this distributor who recently drew 83,000 spectators from 284 prints for Superchondriac in its opening week (145,000 in total after 11 weeks). At the end of July, Babysitting had accumulated 154,000 admissions in Italy, the third top performance for a French-language film in this territory. With 13,000 admissions in French-speaking Switzerland (Praesens Film), Babysitting has a total of 170,000 admissions in foreign theaters. At the end of July, French films had registered 4 million admissions in Italy, being the same number of spectators as for the whole of 2013. This is further proof of the renewed interest in French films in this territory, where four French titles have already attained more 300,000 admissions since the beginning of 2014.